The leader of Germany’s largest anti-blocking movement, “Querdenken-711”, has asked supporters to stop protesting until spring.
Michael Ballweg’s announcement comes after German media reported that he shared the profits from Querdenken merchandise and sent donations to the movement in his personal bank account.
Ballweg never registered the group as an association, a company or a foundation and was exempt from issuing invoices for donations.
Querdenken 711 gained international media attention after organizing a number of the largest protest marches against Europe, which according to some experts were infiltrated by right-wing extremists.
Ballweg’s slogan for the group is: ‘Where we go one, we go all’, taken directly from the QAnon conspiracy theory.
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The leader of Germany’s anti-lockdown movement has called on supporters to interrupt his protests until the spring. The decision coincides with press reports questioning the group’s finances.
Michael Ballweg, the founder of the so-called Querdenken 711 or ‘later-thinking’ group, said in a Telegram video message during the Christmas period that he would “stop the large-scale Querdenken protests indefinitely”, adding that he the group’s branches do the same, according to Der Spiegel.
The Stuttgart-based software entrepreneur, 46, did not give an exact reason why the group took a breather.
The announcement comes days after German media separately reported that Ballweg was making a profit from Querdenken merchandise, asking people to appear with him and asking supporters to donate to what was said to be the movement’s bank account, even though it was his own. .
“Wherever we go, we all go”
Over the past few months, Querdenken-711 has been behind a series of large-scale demonstrations against COVID-19 restrictions in Germany. At one point, protesters tried to storm the Reichstag – the country’s parliament in Berlin.
A protester wrapped in a flag of the German Empire appears with riotous policemen in front of the Reichstag building, after protesters tried to storm it on August 29, 2020 in Berlin, Germany.
John MacDougall / AFP via Getty Images
The group was placed on the watch list of domestic intelligence agencies earlier this month after experts feared it would be infiltrated by extremists and far-right radicals, including neo-Nazis.
One of Ballweg’s slogans for the group is: ‘Where are we going one, we are all going’, a phrase that is hoisted directly from the QAnon conspiracy theory.
In interviews, Ballweg refused to condemn racism and fascism, rather describing Querdenken as a ‘democratic movement’ without leadership that is ‘open to anyone’, according to German broadcaster RBB.
‘The money goes to Stuttgart’
Despite his previous comments, a recent investigation by Netzpolitik and ZDF Magazin Royale found that Ballweg was in the middle of the movement.
According to the report, Ball Road receives 6-12% of every sale of goods on the movement’s official website. The most expensive item on the site is a “Querdenken” jacket that sells for € 69.90 (about $ 80).
When a local delegate of the movement was asked if they received a share of the proceeds from the site, one woman said, ‘We get nothing out of it. The money goes to Stuttgart. We are supposed to do it that way. , “according to Netzpolitik and ZDF. Other local groups reported similar things.
Ballway also asked that supporters donate to the movement, but the bank account linked to the website is personal.
According to German tax laws, people can accept private financial gifts of no more than € 19,999 ($ 24,448) over ten years. Ballweg never registered the group as an association, company or foundation, and was therefore exempt from issuing invoices.
A Querdenken demonstration in Düsseldorf, Germany, on November 15, 2020.
Ying Tang / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Ballway also charged people with appearing on stage with him. This was the case with the German television producer Thomas Hornauer, who allegedly paid the founder of Querdenken up to € 20,000 ($ 24,449) to appear with him in various performances, the investigation found.
“In Germany, you have to spend a lot of money to get thousands of people together,” Hornauer told Netzpolitik and ZDF.
The two men also signed a contract giving Hornauer the rights to use images and sound recordings through Ball Road and ‘Querdenken-711’.
Insider directed Ballway for comment, but did not hear in time for publication.
What is “Querdenken-711”?
Ballweg formed the group “Querdenken 711” in mid-2020 in response to Germany’s first closure amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The name is loosely translated as ‘think outside the box’, while the number 711 represents the telephone number of Stuttgart, the city of Ball Road.
The movement even garnered U.S. support, after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent anti-waxxer and cousin of former President John F. Kennedy, spoke with Ball Road at one of their biggest gatherings in Berlin in August.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (C), greets people during an anti-lockdown protest in Berlin, Germany as Michael Ballweg (L), founder of the Querdenker movement, witnessed on 29 August 2020.
Sean Gallup / Getty Images
Earlier this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that the country would extend its national exclusion, which has been in effect since early December, for another month.
Like other European countries, Germany has seen an increase in coronavirus cases and deaths during the persistent winter period.
According to a Johns Hopkins University tracker, the country has reported more than 1.9 million COVID-19 cases and just over 40,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
